Governor Forced to Hire 150 Emergency Nurses as Strike Bites

Kericho Governor Erick Mutai has announced the emergency recruitment of 150 nurses as the county government moves to maintain healthcare services amid the ongoing national nurses’ strike.

In a statement on Tuesday, September 1, Mutai said the county had made significant progress in ensuring that essential services continue despite the strike, with outpatient services already recovering and inpatient admissions set to resume.

"We have made significant progress in our efforts to ensure that service delivery resumes in our health facilities, with or without the ongoing national nurses’ strike," he wrote.

Mutai said the emergency recruitment of the 150 nurses had been completed, with the new staff expected to begin work in county hospitals after undergoing induction and orientation.

"We have completed the emergency recruitment of 150 nurses, who are reporting today for induction and orientation. We expect them to be deployed to our hospitals later today. Outpatient services are already picking up, and we shall resume the admission of inpatients from today," he added.

Mutai said the county government remained committed to ensuring residents continue accessing essential healthcare services despite the prevailing circumstances. 

He also cautioned politicians against staging disruptive demonstrations within or around hospitals, urging them to protect patients and maintain peace.

"Our commitment is clear: our people must continue to receive essential healthcare services regardless of the circumstances. 

"To the political vultures who may be hovering around our hospitals today in the name of demonstrations, I urge you to exercise restraint and conduct any demonstrations peacefully and away from our patients," he further said.

Mutai further emphasized the need to maintain a quiet and calm environment within hospitals, saying patients require conducive surroundings as they receive treatment.

He also disclosed that the county had strengthened security at its hospitals to prevent unauthorized individuals and disruptive elements from accessing sensitive areas.

"Hospitals are no-honking, no-noise zones for a reason. Our patients deserve a calm, safe and conducive environment in which to receive care.

"We have also put in place enhanced security measures to ensure that unauthorized persons and disruptive elements do not gain access to sensitive and sacred spaces such as the maternity ward, newborn unit and Intensive Care Unit, as happened previously," he noted.

Mutai warned that anyone found violating hospital security or interfering with the delivery of healthcare services would face legal action.

"Anyone who breaches hospital security or disrupts the provision of healthcare services will be dealt with firmly and in accordance with the law," he concluded.

This comes after Deputy President Kithure Kindiki called for an immediate end to the ongoing nurses’ strike, saying the continued interruption of healthcare services could negatively affect Kenya’s development efforts.

Speaking on Monday, August 31, he appealed to the Council of Governors (CoG) and the nurses’ union to resume talks and work towards an agreement that addresses the concerns raised by healthcare workers while restoring essential medical services.

Kindiki noted that the health sector plays a crucial role in supporting Kenya’s social and economic progress, warning that prolonged disruption of services could have wider consequences for the country’s development plans.

"We must urgently resolve the nurses’ strike because disruption of health services hurts our development agenda," he said.

Kindiki further encouraged the two parties to use dialogue as the preferred means of resolving their differences, stressing the need for negotiations that can bring the industrial dispute to an end.

"The Council of Governors and the nurses’ union must sit down, engage and find a solution that will allow health services to resume normally," he added.